Nancy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “What do you mean he disappeared?” she said.
Amber wiped her eyes with a tissue. “I need to sit down,” she said.
“Why don’t you go to the lounge on deck 3?” the captain suggested. “It’s very close.”
Nancy knew where the lounge was; they had passed it many times on their way to the restaurant. She led George, Bess, and Amber that way.
Nancy focused on this new development. She was sure that Craig’s disappearance had something to do with the investigation of the diamond robberies. Before she made any decision about what she should do next, though, she needed to hear Amber’s version of the incident.
Nancy was glad to find that no one else was in the lounge. They sat on a couch near the door so she could hear if anyone else was coming in.
“Quick, Amber—the ship is supposed to leave in just a few minutes. Tell me what happened,” Nancy said. “Maybe we can still locate Craig.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Nancy. Craig’s not going to be on this ship when it leaves Port Huron,” Amber said. “He’s gone because he doesn’t love me anymore.”
Nancy looked at Bess and George.
“How do you know that?” George asked. “Did he tell you?”
“Well, he didn’t have to, did he?” Amber said angrily. “You know he didn’t pay any attention to me on this cruise.” She looked at Nancy. “I owe you an apology. I thought you and Craig had started seeing each other—but I know I was wrong.”
“Right—Craig and I weren’t seeing each other,” Nancy said. “I did have several conversations with him, but they were about his work, not about you.”
Amber blinked. “What do you mean?”
“I’ll explain later,” Nancy said. “But tell me what happened.”
Amber told them that she and Craig had gone to a restaurant in downtown Port Huron. Craig had seemed preoccupied about something. When Amber asked him about it, he just got angry and told her it had to do with his job. He didn’t want to talk about it. They had eaten their meal in silence, but right before dessert came, Craig excused himself to go to the men’s room—and never returned. Amber even had one of the waiters check the men’s room, but Craig wasn’t in there. She paid the bill and hurried back to the ship to tell the captain what had happened.
Just then the ship’s horn sounded, and the lounge began to vibrate as the engines started.
George and Bess looked anxiously at Nancy.
“That’s all, Amber?” Nancy said.
Amber nodded. “All my things are on this ship, and I don’t know anyone in Port Huron,” she said, “so I just decided to come back here and worry about what I’m going to do later.”
“That creep!” Bess said. “I never trusted him.”
Nancy subtly laid a hand on Bess’s arm, to remind her not to say much else.
“What did the captain say when you told him?” Nancy asked.
Amber made a face. “Well, he was angry,” she replied. “He said he’d report the disappearance to the Port Huron authorities. I could tell by his attitude, though, that he thought Craig really left just to get away from me.”
Nancy didn’t know what to do. If she said too much about her relationship with Craig, she’d jeopardize the investigation he was involved in; that is, if there really was an investigation. Could it be that Craig Oliver was the real impostor on board? Nancy couldn’t afford to take a chance by revealing what Craig had told her he was doing—at least, not until she did a little more investigating herself.
“Bess, why don’t you and George see that Amber gets back to her cabin safely?” Nancy said. “I need to go back to our suite for a few minutes.”
“Come on, Amber,” Bess said. “We’ll take you to your cabin.”
“I know this has been a shock,” George added, “but you have three friends here you can count on.”
Nancy quickly headed toward their suite to phone her father. When she got there, she looked in her address book and found the telephone number of the hotel in Toronto where Mr. Drew was staying.
Nancy tried to use her cell phone, but she couldn’t get it to ring the Toronto number. She picked up the receiver of the suite’s telephone and asked the ship’s operator to make the call.
Carson Drew answered on the third ring. “Nancy, it’s so good to hear your voice!” he said. “You almost missed me. I was just about to leave for a meeting.”
“I’ll be quick, Dad,” Nancy said. “I have something I need you to do for me.”
“Sounds mysterious,” Carson Drew teased. “I thought you’d be able to relax on this trip.”
Nancy laughed. “I seem to attract big cases, Dad,” she said. “You know that.”
“I most certainly do,” Mr. Drew said. “What is it that you need?”
Nancy quickly told her father everything she could remember about Craig Oliver and his investigation of the multiple jewel robberies. She told him about Bess’s fall on the stairs and how she thought it had been meant for her, and about being locked in the building in Alpena. Nancy also told him about Laura Houston.
“But now, Dad, I’m not sure of anything. It could all be a hoax,” Nancy said. “Can you find out if there really is an Interpol investigation and if the lead investigator is a Craig Oliver?” She gave her father a complete description of Craig so that she could be sure—even if there was an ongoing investigation—that the man she had been working with wasn’t an impostor.
“I’ll find out what I can for you, Nancy,” Carson Drew said. “I’ll make some inquiries right away, and I’ll call you as soon as I find out anything.”
“Great, Dad. And don’t worry about us!” Nancy said. “We’re being careful, and we really are having a great time.”
Just as Nancy hung up, the telephone rang. It was Bess.
“You need to come to Amber’s room right away,” Bess said.
“What’s wrong?” Nancy asked. She was beginning to imagine all kinds of horrible things.
“It’s too complicated, Nancy,” Bess said, “but what we’ve just learned changes everything.”
“Okay,” Nancy said. “I’m on my way.”
When Nancy reached Amber’s cabin, she found Amber lying on the bed. Bess and George were sitting on the sofa. They all looked stunned.
“Amber wants to tell you something, Nancy,” Bess said. “You’d better sit down with us.”
Nancy joined her two friends on the sofa. “Okay, Amber, what is it that you want to tell me?”
“Craig wasn’t really a detective after all, Nancy,” Amber said. “He got this job on the cruise ship so he could steal things from the passengers.”
Nancy looked at Bess and George.
“Were you ready for that?” Bess asked.
“No, I wasn’t,” Nancy said.
“It gets better,” George added.
Nancy turned back to Amber. “Let’s hear the rest of it,” she said.
Amber explained to Nancy how one of Craig’s friends had told him what incredible valuables people brought on board cruise ships. The friend was sure that these were mostly people from small towns who saw the cruise ship as a place to show off their expensive clothes and jewels.
Together, Craig and Amber concocted the elaborate Interpol story so that Craig would have what looked like a legitimate reason to sneak around—just in case anyone became suspicious. Amber said Craig was really proud of his Interpol ID because it looked so real.
“I don’t understand, Amber,” Nancy said. “Where is Craig now?”
Amber shrugged. “Craig’s plan was to steal a few big-ticket items right before we docked in Port Huron,” Amber said. “I was to rent a car and meet him in front of a restaurant downtown. From there we’d drive south to Detroit, hide out for a few days with some friends of his, then decide where we wanted to end up. I rented the car, drove to the restaurant, and waited. Craig never showed up.”
“Why didn’t you just leave?” Nancy said. “Why did you come back to the ship?”
“I was telling you the truth about that, Nancy. I really don’t have anywhere to go,” Amber said. “Everything I own is in this cabin. I thought I’d at least have a place to sleep for a few days until I could decide what to do next.”
Nancy shook her head. “This is so bizarre,” she said. She stood up and started pacing back and forth. “Amber, if Craig did steal anything from the passengers, it won’t be long until the losses are discovered,” she said. “We’ll have to tell the captain about your part in this crime.”
“But he’ll throw me off the ship right away if you do that. I’d end up in jail!” Amber cried. “I only agreed to come along because I love Craig and because he thought I’d be a good cover for him.”
“Nancy, what if Craig didn’t steal anything?” Bess said. “What if he decided it wasn’t going to work and then just dumped Amber?”
“I was thinking about that,” Nancy said. She looked at Amber. “Okay, we won’t say anything to the captain just yet, in case Craig did get cold feet and didn’t end up stealing anything.”
“Maybe he really is a creep, Amber, and he just skipped out on you,” George said. “If that’s the case, you’re much better off.”
Amber stood up. “I think I need to take a hot shower and go to bed,” she said. “I’d better enjoy these accommodations while I can, because in a few days I’ll be on the street.”
The girls stood up.
“We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen,” Bess assured her.
Nancy didn’t chime in. She wasn’t feeling quite as optimistic as her friend.
“If you need anything tonight, just call our suite,” George said. “We’ll do our best to help you.”
“Thank you,” Amber said. “I can’t even begin to tell you three how much I appreciate what you’re doing.”
On the way back to their suite George said, “This cruise is getting stranger and stranger.”
“That’s the truth,” Bess said. “I don’t know what to think about Amber, Craig, Laura …”
“Well, I may have a solution to this in a few minutes,” Nancy said. “I called Dad in Toronto and asked him to find out what he could about an Interpol investigation into diamonds stolen from jewelry stores in Mexico and the United States. He should be calling soon.” She looked at Bess, who was clearly trying to keep quiet. “Don’t say it—I know I should have done it sooner.”
As Nancy inserted the key in the lock on their suite’s door, the phone rang. She quickly opened the door and grabbed the phone.
“Hello? Oh, hi, Dad!” Nancy said. “Did you find out anything?”
Nancy listened for several minutes, then said, “Well, that does shed some new light on the case.”
“Well?” Bess asked after Nancy had hung up.
“There is an Interpol investigation of jewelry store robberies,” Nancy said, “and the lead investigator is a Craig Oliver, but…”
“But what?” George said.
“Dad couldn’t get a description of him,” Nancy said, “so now I don’t know if the man we thought was Craig Oliver really is Craig Oliver.”